Web/Tech

June 08, 2010

With so many people trying to find solutions to the fix the oil leak in the Gulf, you can now add elementary-school children. In this particular video, two grade-school children present an idea for how to stop the leak---proof that thinking about innovation and finding ways to solve problems can begin at almost any age!

The electric car is once again in the national spotlight as
automobile manufacturers compete to create a more environmentally friendly
vehicle.The Obama Administration has
set a lofty goal for the U.S.
transportation industry: 1 million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by
2015.Here is a look at one innovative
car that might be popping up on freeways across the country starting next year.

The Aptera 2e is a plug-in, all-electric vehicle.The three-wheeled car seats two, travels up
to 100 miles on a single charge and can reach a speed of 90 mph.Equipped with state of the art safety
features including a race car-like passenger safety zone, the Aptera 2e is as
safe as any car on the road according to Aptera Motors CEO Paul Wilbur.What makes the car truly unique is its aerodynamic
design.The vehicle resembles the shape
of a bird gliding through the wind, allowing the Aptera 2e to work with the
wind rather than against it.Priced
between $25,000 and $40,000, the Aptera 2e was designed to be affordable for
the average family.Can you see yourself
driving this car?

April 14, 2010

We’re back from the Stanford Cool
Product Expo!The event, held annually
on the StanfordUniversity campus, showcases interesting products and projects from start-ups,
university research labs, global manufacturers and local design studios.We were excited to exhibit at the show so
that we could show off some of our newest products and present alongside some
of the brightest minds in Silicon Valley.

Everyone
was interested in testing out our products and finding out more about AbsolutelyNew.In addition to networking with other local
companies, we also had the chance to speak with students in the Stanford
Graduate School of Business and EngineeringSchool.Stanford has no shortage of creative thinkers
and product designers who were anxious to give us feedback on our products and
share some of their own work with us. The show was a big success, and we can’t wait
to return next year.

Did
you attend the show this year and get a chance to stop by our booth?We would love to hear what you thought of the
product samples we were displaying and any other cool products you saw at the
expo this year.

February 12, 2010

The
Winter Olympic Games will commence on Friday in Vancouver.Companies have been innovating like crazy since the last Olympics to
enhance the performance of Olympic athletes.From a newly designed high-speed bobsled to downhill ski equipment,
innovation will be on everyone’s mind at the games.In addition to improvements in athletic
equipment, the Vancouver Olympics will showcase a lot of environmental
innovation.Here are a few things to
watch out for:

Eco-friendly venues:The
organizers of the Vancouver Olympics have had sustainability on their minds
since the planning first began.Many of
the Olympic venues include state of the art eco-friendly designs that conserve
energy and protect the environment.The
Convention Centre boasts a living green roof, on-site water treatment, and a fish
habitat built into the foundation, while the Olympic Centre captures rainwater
and siphons it into the building to flush toilets and urinals.

Carbon-neutral partners: Twenty-five partners of the
Olympic Games have joined forces to help make the Games carbon-neutral.Corporate sponsors, governments and broadcasters
have all volunteered to offset some of their own carbon emissions related to
the Games by investing in a portfolio of clean energy technology projects.Coca-Cola will also be going completely green
for the games, aiming to have a net-zero carbon footprint and net-zero waste at
the Games.

Olympic medals made from electronic scraps:The medals that the Olympic champions will
proudly wear around their necks will be made of
precious metals reclaimed from old electronics.Gold, silver, and bronze have been extracted from electronics that would
otherwise end up in landfills to make the coveted medals.It would take more than 17 tons of gold ore
to net the same amount of gold reclaimed from the circuit boards of a single junk
PC.

January 12, 2010

An article published today on CNN.com asks if the ‘golden
age for inventors’ is at hand?While no
one can predict the future, especially in this economy, several industry
experts believe good news is on the way for many inventors.If you are interested in launching your
invention in what some promise will be a “golden age,” here are a few tips from
experts about being a successful inventor:

Take action. One
of the most important steps is simply to act, says Todd Greene, inventor of the
HeadBlade."I know some people who
are perfectionists. They never get their company off of the ground because
they're not happy with what they have and they're afraid to go to the next
phase."

Don’t try to do
everything alone, accept your limitations."You have to be able to say, 'What are the skills that I lack
and what's the experience I don't have, and how can I find somebody that can
complement those skills?'" says Andrea Belz, a management consultant who
specializes in technology commercialization for companies.

Know how to market your ideas or get the
attention of a larger company."Just because your product is amazing and
life-changing doesn't mean that people are going to hear it," invention
expert Alan Tratner says. "The hard part isn't coming up with an idea. The
hard part is taking it to the market."

September 25, 2009

We were very psyched to learn that Netflix this week awarded a $1 million prize to a team of people who invented an algorithm that delivers a 10% improvement in predicting what movies customers will want to see. This ends an open innovation competition that took three years, with 40,000 teams from 186 countries, to break the critical 10% hurdle.

Meanwhile Dutch light-bulb maker Phillips may be the winner of a U.S. Department of Energy’s $10 million “L Prize” open innovation competition—yesterday it was the first entry in the government’s contest to invent a more efficient 60-watt bulb. To win, government testing will need to confirm that it meets some very strict criteria including:

Reproduces the amount and color of light from a 60-watt incandescent bulb, while using only 10 watts of power

Lasts 25,000 hours, which is ~25x longer than a standard bulb

75% or more of the bulb is made or assembled in the U.S.

Free of the negatives of today’s compact fluorescent bulbs—ie: no polluting mercury

Looks like the Dutch may soon get credit for lighting up something other than, well, you know.

More importantly, there are many, many more such contests and prizes out there. So as you’re inventing, especially if you’re working in more advanced or eco-friendly spaces, definitely do your homework on the contests out there. Invention success is a great light at the end of the tunnel… but oh, how much sweeter it would be if you could win big prize money too.

September 15, 2009

Did you see the new line of goodies Apple recently unveiled? Let's just say they’re super cool—so much so that we’re thinking we absolutely, positively need to replace our current ones even though they’re still working well for us.

And by far the coolest of all: the new iPod nano line, which Steve Jobs and his gang have now outfitted with built-in video capability (camera, mic and speaker), FM radio you can pause in Tivo-like fashion, a pedometer, and the ability to send everything effortlessly to your computer.

Super cool, eh? Apple also updated its iPod shuffles, iPod touches, iTunes, and more. And in this there are lessons for every one of us:

1. Never settle. The Apple folks keep innovating at break-neck speed because they’re determined to stay ahead of competitors big & small. This is a good for all of us to remember each time we’re successful, so we don’t rest on our laurels. It’s also important to note because we all need to try harder if we’re going to unseat the Goliaths—I mean Apples—of the world.

2. Value matters. The new nanos retail for $149-$179 depending on the memory. The new shuffles: $59-$79. Sure, Apple’s making money, but it’s also very consciously pricing the hardware so that it can keep growing its market-share… and keep creating a bigger population of Apple users who will also potentially buy music from its iTunes platform. As you design or update your invention, be sure to keep value in mind too. And remember, it sometimes pays very handsomely to price lower if you can sell a whole lot more units.

3. Create excitement. These Apple products get us pretty excited. But we should also note that they’re not exactly revolutionary—there are already handheld video devices, and other MP3 players that also play radio, for example. But Apple’s exceptional at boiling everything down into simple, sexy features & benefits that are incredibly easy to use, and they hyping them like no other. When it’s time to get the word out on your invention, remember that simple & sexy sells… and we’re not talking about cloaking your device in a salacious bikini.

July 24, 2009

People often ask us what websites and blogs we love most. Such a tough question because we follow so many! And the answer has so much to do with individual's preferences and areas of expertise. So rather than flood you with a lengthy list, here are 10 sites (listed alphabetically) that we make a point of visiting very regularly – we’re talking at least once a day, sometimes more – because they dish good content on such a consistent basis:

June 17, 2009

Nokia recently told its design team to take a break while it let the general public design a new cell phone. Meanwhile Starbucks created a special websitefor people to submit tips and ideas... and was reportedly quickly inundated with 17,000+ ideas... just related to coffee.

What’s going on? It’s part of a broader movement to “crowdsourcing,” and it’s growing fast – VERY fast, in fact, since a few people first started talking about in 2006 – because companies are increasingly recognizing the benefits of outside thinking: more new ideas and inventions, obtained at lower cost than if developed internally, every so often unearthing a gem that’s perfectly in synch with a target consumer segment’s wants & needs.

It helps that the web has made crowdsourcing a whole lot easier to handle...

... at least until the ideas pour in and a company needs to review them, which is where crowdsourcing becomes a double-edged sword for the company as well as all the smart people submitting ideas.

So what are you doing to tap into this movement? And what are you doing to go above & beyond everyone else trying to play here, to be seen as a gem among those 17,000+ others who now suddenly believe they also have a real shot at success?